abstaine in sincerity from sinne hee will abstaine from all sinne The reason why men abstaine from any sinne is either for love of themselves or of God if for love of thy selfe thou doest abstaine from sinne thou wert as good commit all as some If for love of God thou wilt abstaine from all sinnes from little sinnes as well as great sinnes Here may a question be asked why men doe abstaine from murther and Idolatry The answere is because God did forbid it and doth not God forbid also Thou shalt not lust God that doth forbid the one doth forbid the other and for thy further consideration know the holy Spirit of God doth hate every Sinne it doth abandon and hate that heart where these thoughts of lust are nourished Now the heart is the habitation and residence of the holy Ghost wherfore all Sinnes are to be mortified that the holy Ghost may come and dwell there The acts of mortification are chiefely these the Apostle would have us take paines with our hearts men might doe much good unto themselves would they but take paines to consider and ponder their their wayes but when men are carried away with the desire of riches vaine-glory and other inconsiderations no mervaile if it be thus with them If they would but sit alone meditate and reflect their mindes upon what they should doe it would be a great meanes to make them to alter their courses The Apostle when he would have them mortifie these lusts hee would have them consider the meanes how to suppresse them there be strong reasons in the word of God for them Let them search the grounds they have for the committing of those lusts and it will be an effectuall meanes for the mortifying of them If mens judgements were rectified to see their follies they would change their courses and turne the bent of their affections another way I should deliver many things unto you in this kinde concerning mortification to let it be your care that it may worke upon your inward affections that you may make it profitable unto your owne Soules and that you doe let it not passe from you without doing you good The word of God which you heare is not lost it shall certainly doe you hurt if not good it shall harden if it doe not soften It is an ill signe if a tree doe not bud in the spring but to see it without leaves in the Winter is no wonder at all So for any to heare the word of God powerfully preached and not to have good wrought on them by it they have great cause to feare their estates It is this meditating and taking to heart which is the first means I prescribe for mortification We are said secondly to mortifie when we suppresse and keepe downe those lusts if wee keepe them backe from their courses that they doe not bring forth the fruite of Sinne All actions when any Sinne is executed they tend to evill corruptions If wee abstaine from the action of Sinne then it doth kill the very inclination Take any Sinne that a man is naturally enclined unto whether it be the Sinne of uncleanenesse the desire of Riches or whatsoever Custome doth make his lusts to be stronger and so doth adde to the Sinne One light doth shew a thing to be so but more lights doe make it appeare more cleare so there is an addition in Sinne as well as in grace the more they act in Sinne the more they encrease Now when men complaine they know not what to doe they cannot be without their lusts Let them thanke themselves for it in suffering themselves by custome to practise them but by keeping downe the act of Sinne the lusts will evaporate away in time though thy lust be strong and violent at the first yet if thou wilt let it alone from the execution of it it will consume and weare away at the last Therefore keepe downe thy lusts and suppresse them Thirdly to weane these lusts inordinate affections and concupiscences the rectifying of the judgement and applying of right meanes doth mortifie the higher reason Now for to mortifie the lower reason is to turne away the bent of affection on another object If grace be quicke and lively in a man it turnes away the minde from Sinne and the way to weane these lusts is to keepe the minde fixed and bent on better things as temperance chastity and sobriety for all intemperance doth breed lust and then the devill doth take occasion and advantage to worke upon a man but sobrietie and temperance is a great meanes to keepe backe these evill affections Now I proceede to make use of what hath beene formerly delivered concerning these three Sinnes fornication uncleanenesse and evill concupiscence You may remember what hath beene said concerning the greatnesse of the Sinne of uncleanenesse It will follow then if it be so great a Sinne wee should use meanes to be freed from it Those that are guilty of it let them give themselves no rest their eye lids no slumber nor God no rest till they be delivered from the band of this iniquity 1. Sam. 2. 25. Remember what Elie said to his sonnes If one man sinne against another the Iudge shall judge him but if a man sinne against the Lord who shall entreate for him When God doth take in hand to afflict the Creature then it is intollerable man shall finde it to be aâ—terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living GOD. Take an arrowe or a bullet and let it be shot into the body of man it may wound deepely and yet be cured againe but let the head of that arrowe be poysoned or the bullet envenomed then the wound proves deadly and incurable There may be in the body of man many great gashes and deepe wounds and yet be cured but if affliction lyes on the Creature from the wrath of God he is not able to beare it it doth cause him to tremble and his conscience to be terrified within him as wee see by men that are in despaire Now the reason of it is God when he sinites the Creature in his wrath he doth wound the Spirit and as it were doth breake it in sunder as God doth breake the Spirit so he doth sustaine the Spirit but when he doth withdraw himselfe from the creature then the strong holds of the Spirit are gone This is to shew you what a terrible thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God This as it doth belong to all so specially to those that have received the Sacrament this day or before that they make conscience of this Sinne if they doe not they receive it unworthily and he that is guilty of this is guilty of the body and blood of Christ Hee discernes not the Lords body neither doth hee prize it as hee should nor esteeme of the excellencie of it as hee ought Hee discernes not with what reverence hee should come
then he could doe To this I answer that the regenerate man is able to doe more then hee could doe in these two particulars First he is able to performe any duty or any thing God commands according to the proportion of grace that he hath received but if the duty or thing exceed the grace that he hath received then hee is to pray for an extraordinary helpe of the spirit but hee could not doe this before neither is it in the power of an unregenerate man to doe it Secondly he is able to resist any temptation or sinne if it be not greater or above the measure of grace that he hath received if it be a temptation of distrust or impatiencie or presumption if it exceed not the measure of grace that he hath received he is able to put it to flight but if it doe exceed then hee is to pray for an extraordinary helpe of the spirit now the unregenerate man hath no power to resist sinne or temptation in this case But you will say againe that there is no such power in the regenerate man for the Apostle saith Gal. 5. 17. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that you cannot doe the things that you would To this I answer It is true that in the most sanctified man thatis there is corruption and this corruption will fight against the spirt and may sometimes hinder good but it is then when it exceeds the measure of grace hee hath received neither is it alway prevailing in this kinde for when it exceeds not the grace the spirit overcomes it neither doth it alwaies continue it may be in the heart but it cannot reigne in the heart it may bee in the heart as a theefe in a house not to have residence and a dwelling place but for a night and bee gone so this lust in the heart of a regenerate man dwells not there that is it doth not alwayes hinder him from good but for a time and then departs but it is not thus with an unregenerate man sinne takes possession and keepes possession of his heart The third consectary or use stands thus seeing the Apostle saith mortifie that is do not only abstain from the outward actions of sinne but from the thought of the heart for Mortification is a slaying of the evill disposition of the heart aswell as the slaying of the actions of the body Mortification is first inward and then outward Hence we gather this point That it is not sufficient for a man to abstaine from the actions of sinne but he must abstaine from sinne in his heart if hee would prove his Mortification to be true 2 Pet. 2. 14. The Apostle saith that their eyes were fullof adulterie Now lust is not in the eye but in the heart but by this he fhewes that it is the fulnesse of sinne in the heart that fills the eyes therefore looke unto the heart for the actions are but the branches but the root is in the heart that is whatsoever evill action is in the hand it hath its first breeding in the heart if therefore you would remove the effect you must first remove the cause Now the cause if it bring forth an evill effect is the greater evill as the cause of good is greater than the effect it produceth even so the sinne of the heart because it is the cause of evill actions is greater than the evill that it produceth Then think not with you selves that if you abstaine from the outward grosse actions of sinne that sinne is mortified in you but goe first unto the Cause and see whether that evill disposition of the heart be mortified whether there bee wrought in you a new disposition to good and a withering of all inordinate affections But you will say unto mee Our Saviour saith that Every man shall be judged by his workes and the Apostle saith that Every man shall receive according to the workes done in the bodie by which it appeares that a man shall not bee judged by the thoughts of his heart but by his actions To this I answer It is true that men shall bee judged by their workes because actions declare either that good that is in the heart or the evill that is in the heart so that he will judge the heart first as the cause and then the actions as the effects Rom. 8. 27. it is said He that searcheth the heart knoweth the mind of the spirit so it is as true that he knowes the minde of the flesh that is the actions of the unregenerate part Now as the sap is greater in the root than in the branches so the greater sinne is in the heart and therefore it shall receive greater punishment Therefore if the root bee not purged notwithstanding thou abstaine from the outward actions thou hast not as yet mortified sinne because thy heart is impure and seeing God will judge us by our hearts if we have any care of our salvation let us labour to cut off the buds of sinne that spring from the heart The fourth Consectary or Use stands thus seeing the Apostle exhorts the Colossians to morâ—ifie their lusts who had set upon this worke already hence we note this point That no man is so holy or sanctified but he had need still to be exhorted to Mortification For howsoever it be true that in the regenerate sinne hath received a deadly wound yet it is not so killed but there is still sap in the root from whence springs many branches and therefore had need of continuall Mortification because the flesh wil still lust against the spirit and although there is such corruption in them yet are they not under the power of it neither doth it beare rule in them let them therefore that have not set upon this worke of Mortification now beginne to mortifie their lust and let all those that have already begunne continue in this worke Thus much for the uses But you will say unto mee How shall wee attaine this worke of Mortification and therefore here will I lay downe some meanes how a man may come to this worke of Mortification The first meanes is to endevour to get a willing heart to have your sinnes mortified that is a holy dislike and a holy loathing of them with a desire of the contrary grace If men did butsee whatan excellent estate regeneration is it would breed in them a holy desire of Mortification therefore our Saviour saith when his Disciples came to him and complained of the weakenesse of their Faith Matth. 17. If yee have Faith as a graine of Mustard-seed yee shall say unto this mountaine Remove and it shall bee removed By setting forth the excellency of Faith he takes paines to worke in them a desire of it even so if a man once can get a desire but to have his sinne mortified
or exception that the gates of mercy stand open for them Mar. 16. 15. there is our Commission Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel unto every Creature What this is in the next verse it is sayd If a man will beleeve he shall be saved but hee that beleeveth not shall be damned Therefore whatsoever your sinne be let nothing hinder you to come in for if you come in God wil receive you to mercy all the hindrāce then is in our selves Consider these two places of Scripture 1. Cor. 6. 9. Paul speaking to the Corinthians Of the greatest sinne that ever mans nature was capable of such were ye saith he but now ye are washed and are sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the spirit of our God So in the 2. Cor. 12. and last ve The Apostle doth make no question but that they might repent and have forgivenesse you may know how willing God was to forgive great sinners all the matter is if we be willing to apply this pardon to our selves To leave our sinnes in generall to take Christ to be a King aswell as our Saviour To deny our selves and to take up Christs Crosse and then there is no question but we may have this pardon sealed and assured us Certaine it is men will not doe this as to denie themselves and take up Christs Crosse till they bee duly humbled and have repented their sinnes but so it is that men will not prize Christ untill that vengeance fall upon them for their sins would they but doe it they might bee sure of this pardon were their humiliation true and sincere it is sufficient the last of the Revel verse 17. And the spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely First here is Let him that heareth come that is To all whosoever this Gospel is preached unto the promise is generall to all here is also added Let him that is athirst come there is further added Let whosoever will come come that will come and take of the water of life freely seeking God in sinceritie of heart with forsaking of all their sinnes And so much for this meanes of getting pardon for sinne and to come to true mortification by the sanctifying spirit The second meanes to mortification is to abstaine from all beginnings and occasions of sinne as precedent actions and objects of ill It is to have a peremptory abstinence and full deniall not medling with any thing that hath any affinity with sinne If you doe not neglect to resist the beginnings this is the way to come unto the utmost ends of it there be chaines to draw to sinne Iames 1. 14. Every man is tempted when hee is drawne of his owne lust and is inticed then when lust hath conceived it bringeth foorth sinne and sinne when it is consummate bringeth forth death This is to cleare God in the matter of temptation a man is drawne with his owne lust unto it First a man doth gaze on his Sinne and dally with it then hee comes to bee intangled in it so that hee cannot get loose againe even as a fish that is fast to a hooke Thirdly followes the assent unto it when hee is taken in the net And lastly followes the committing of actuall sinne which doeth bring forth Death So first there is the chaine that drawes to sinne Secondly the gazing on it Thus Evah did admire and gaze on the fruite and did thinke that if shee might taste of it shee should come to know good and evill but she was deceived so wee are deluded by sinne First by gazing on it then by being intangled in it afterwards proceedes a will therunto and lastly the committing of the sinne which doth bring foorth death so that death followes sinne When a man hath committed the sinne it causeth the hardening of the heart and so makes him not sensible of the things of the spirit The greater sinnes doe cause the greater hardnings and makes the heart for to become evill and so a man comes to have an unfaithfull heart as an Athiest to thinke that the Scriptures are not true that the promises of God are not true and lastly unfaithfulnesse it causeth a departure from God as in Hebrewes 3. 13. An unbeleeving heart causeth a departure from the living God Take heed there bee not an evill and unbeleeving heart in you for if there bee then there will bee a departing from God therefore wee should not bee led by any thing to gaze upon sinne that wee may not bee intangled in it Therefore let us at the first checke the very beginnings of sinne and resist all occasions A third meanes to overcome this sinne is to bee exercised with the contrary delights as with Grace and Holinesse This is the meanes to mortifie the heart and to emptie it of all kind of lusts and they cannot be emptied out of the heart unlesse better things be put in stead thereof you cannot weaken blackenesse better then by white Therefore the way to change the heart after sinnefull objects and the mortifying of these lufts it is to get delight in better things and to labour to have neerer communion with God to be zealous of Gods cause 1. Cor. 106. Last of all to conclude The meanes for mortifying of this Sinne is you must adde prayer unto all the rest To pray unto God to baptize you with his holy Spirit Let a man be left to himselfe and it is impossible for him to mortifie except God will doe it Therefore wee are to pray unto God to give us his holy Spirit When the Spirit of God doth come into the heart it is as fire and puts another temper upon him then was before It turnes the strings of his heart to another tune and doth make him approve of that which God doth require This is the way to mortifie lust The more a man is carried to the love of one he is many times the more removed from another but the more a man is caried to God the more heis wayned from inordinat lusts being mortified he is the more enclined to God Mal. 3. 2. Who shall stand when he appeares for hee is like a Refiners fire and like to Fullers Sope. Christ shall doe that when he comes that none else is able to doe As in refining and purifying the heart use what meanes you will except you use fire you cannot refine drosse from silver So staines that are in a mans garment wash them as long as you will with Sope they will but seeme the worse but when they are brought to the Fullers hand they are soone rubbed out So let a man be left to his owne Spirit hee will runne into a thousand noy some lusts but when Gods Spirit is cloathed in a mans heart then it doth keepe him from the wayes of
all these thou shalt bee more than a Conquerour and have a Crowne of glory in the life to come Secondly the world tels thee that if thou wilt not be earthly minded thou shalt lose thy wealth riches thy honour and thy credit nay thy life also but Faith tels thee that if thou beest earthly minded thou shalt lose thy spirituall life and riches and shalt be poore in the graces of the Spirit thou shalt lose honour and credit with God and his children nay thou shalt lose eternall life Thus Faith overcomes our inordinate affections to the world and makes us heavenly minded The second meanes if you would get heavenly mindednesse is this you must labour for Humilitie this is that which the Apostle Iames exhorts us unto Iam. 4. 8. Clense your hands you sinners and purisie your hearts you double minded and then humble your selves cast your selves downe and the Lord wil raise you up Where we may note that before our hearts hands can be clensed we must be cast downe This we may see in the parable of the Sower Luk. 8. 8. two of the sorts of ground were not fit to receive seed because they were not humbled and therfore the Word had not that effect in them as it had in those that were humbled plowed and had the clods broken It is with an humble soule as it is with an hungry and thirsty man tell him of gold and silver hee cares not for it onely give him meat and drinke for that is the thing he most desires and stands most in need of or like a condemned man tel him of lands and possessions hee regards them nothing at all for nothing will satisfie him but a pardon so it is with a Christian that is humbled and cast downe under the sense of the wrarh of God for sinne tell him of any thing in the world in the most learned and excellentest manner that possibly you can yet nothing will satisfie him but the love and favour of God in Christ hee can rellish nothing but heavenly things nothing will quench his thirst but the imputed righteousnesse of Christ. Thus you see that Humilitie is an excellent meanes unto heavenly mindednesse The third meanes if you would get heavenly mindednesse is this thou must labour to get thy judgement rightly informed especially concerning earthly things The reason wherefore men are so besotted with the world is because they doe not conceive of the things in the world so as indeed they are they thinke better of them then they deserve and looke for that from them which they cannot afford them therefore heare what the Preacher saith of them Salomon saith that they are vanitie and vexation of spirit yea he cals all vanity and in another place he compares them to things that are most variable and most uncertaine as to grasse that withereth to a shadow that is suddenly gone this is the esteeme that the Wiseman had of earthly things And thereby we may see that they are not truly good because they are uncertaine things and promise that which they cannot performe unto us for at the best they are but things wherein as through a crevice we have a small glimpse of the true good yet they themselves are not over-good because they are not the cause whereby the chiefe Good is produced neither are wee able to keepe them for at such or such a time they will bee gone so that they are neither true good nor our good and therefore this should weane us and our hearts from them But let us strive to set our affections on things that are durable good and substantiall good which will not deceive us and will promise us nothing but that which it will performe farre beyond our deserts therefore labour for a right informed judgement The fourth meanes if you would get heavenly mindednesse is this Labour to get a sight into the All-sufficiencie of God Remember what the Lord said unto Abraham I am God All-sufficient walke before me and bee upright God is an All-sufficient God for generall good things of this life are at the best but particular good as health is a particular good against sicknesse wealth and riches a particular good against poverty honour and credit a particular good against disgrace but God is a generall good and the fountaine of all goodnesse other things are but created like cisternes that good they have is put in them therefore the Lord complaines of the people Ier. 2. 13. They have forsaken me the fountaine of living waters and have digged to themselves Cisternes that will hold no water that is they have forsaken God the fountaine of all good and have chosen unto themselves the creatures that have no more good than that which comes from God the fountaine As a man that forsakes a fountaine that continually runnes and betakes himselfe to a crack'd Cisterne that hath no water but that which commeth from the fountaine and is also subject to lose his water so when men set their hearts on earthly things they forsake God who is All-sufficient for them and seeke to his Creatures which are insufficient and unable to helpe themselves therefore you ought to thinke of these things to the end you may be heavenly minded The fifth meanes to get heavenly mindednesse is this To Remember from whence thou art fallen Rev. 2. 5. this is for those that have beene heavenly minded and now are earthly minded It is with many Christians as it is with the shadow on the Diall the Sunne passeth and they know not how or as a man going to Sea first hee loseth a sight of the Townes and houses then the sight of the Churches and Steeples and then hee loseth the sight of the mountaines and hils then at last hee seeth nothing but the motion of the Seas so there are many Christians that make a godly shew of profession at first but by degrees they fall away till at length they become nothing they leave the good profession and take up an outward professing of Christianitie and doe all in hypocrisie it is with these men as it is with a man that hath a Consumption in his bodie first he growes weake secondly he loseth his colour thirdly hee loseth his rellish and taste and this is the most dangerous of all so it is in a spirituall Consumption first they are weake and feeble to performe holy duties secondly they lose their colour that is their cheerefulnesse in the performance of holy duties thirdly which is the worst of all they lose their rellish they cannot taste wholsome Doctrine they delightnot in the pure Word and this is dangerous and hard to be recovered A Consumption at first is more easily cured than discerned and at length it is more easily discovered than cured so it is with the spirituall the sicknesse and the weaknesse of the soule may at the first be more easily cured than discerned but when they
beginne to lose their colour and taste it is more easily discerned then cured This is a marvellous dangerous case and therefore to prevent this sicknesse of the soule let men remember from whence they are fallen I can compare such Christians to nothing so fit as unto the Image of Nebuchadnezar which hee saw in a vision the head was of gold the brest shoulders and armes of silver the thighes and legges were of brasse and Iron and the feet were of clay so many Christians at the first for their zeale knowledge tendernesse of conscience are as pure gold afterwards they grow more cold and remisse in the performance of holy duties than before as also not so carefull in the keeping of a good conscience and this is worse than the first even as silver is worse than gold againe they come to a degree worse than that like brasse and Iron dead and cold to every thing that is good then at last they come to clay that is to be earthly minded minding onely the things of the earth and therefore if thou wouldest get heavenly mindednesse and keepe off this spirituall Consumption of thy soule remember from whence thou art fallen Having already shewed you the difference betweene earthly and heavenly mindednesse and also shewed you the meanes whereby you may get out of earthly mindednesse it now remaines that we lay downe some motives to move you to this worke The first Motive to move all men from earthly mindednesse is because heavenly things are a better object the desire doth not dye but change the affections and desires are but changed from earthly things to heavenly things now every desire hath a conjunction with the things that they affect if it bee but an earthly desire it hath a conjunction with an earthly object so if it bee an heavenly desire it hath a conjunction with an heavenly object Now if men did but know or at least would be perswaded of this it would bee an excellent meanes to perswade men to leave earthly mindednesse for what is the reason that men will not professe Religion but because they say then wee must bee crucified unto the world and the world must bee crucified unto us that is they must leave al their pleasure and delights It is true thou must be crucified unto the world thou must leave inordinate care of earthly things all distrusting care which is a companion of earthly mindednesse in unregenerate men now what losse will it bee unto thee if thou have heavenly affections for earthly Will not a man willingly part with drosse for gold A man that is recovered of a dropsie what if a necessitie be laid upon him to abstaine from excesse in drinking would hee not rather willingly leave his desire than have his disease to returne So what if thy affections be changed from earthly to heavenly things so as thou dost feele the burthen of immoderate cares cast off thee what though a necessitie bee laid upon thee not to entangle thy selfe with the things of this world is it not forthy soules health to keepe it from a Consumption If men would be perswaded of the benefit that comes by this heavenly mindednesse and that it were but a change of the desire not to their losse but their great advantage surely they would not bee so backeward from getting of heavenly mindednesse therefore labour to perswade thy heart of the truth of this grace for this doth not so tye a man from the world that hee must not have any thing to doe with it but it orders a man in the world it keepes him from all inordinate cares of the world and all inordinate desires of earthly things it sets all the faculties of the soule in order and it sets the body in order now if men did but know the benefit of this change they would bee more easily perswaded to leave earthly mindednesse The second Motive to move all men to leave earthly mindednesse is because there is no sweetnesse in these earthly members there is an insufficiencie in them they cannot give any true content to the heart of a man and that they cannot doe it this is cleare by two particulars First this ariseth from the mutabilitie of the things Secondly it ariseth from the disposition of the persons First I say they can give no true content unto the heart of a man or woman because they are mutable and subject to change now you know that all earthly things are mutable they have a time of being and a time of not being let the heart of a man or woman be set upon any of these earthly things and the losse of it will bring greater sorrow of heart by how much more he hath set his heart upon them if immoderately then the sorrow is the greater if moderately the sorrow is the lesse but if he set his whole heart upon any thing whether it bee his riches or his honour or his pleasure the losse thereof will cause much sorrow of heart now it is onely grace that gives true content unto a Christian spirituall things they change not they are constant immutable and permanent as Justification Remission of sinnes and Reconciliation these are not subject unto any change they cannot be lost for when the heart is set upon heavenly things the comfort cannot bee removed because the cause of that comfort continues Now comfort in Christ is the true content of the soule and therefore where Christ is by his grace in the heart there is content Secondly I say they can giue no true content unto a man or woman if wee consider the condition and the disposition of the persons and that two wayes first if we consider them as good men and so belong to God or secondly if we consider them as bad men and so not belonging unto God we shall see that outward things cannot yeeld any true content unto either First if they be good men and so belong unto God yet there cannot be such sweetnesse in them as to give true content unto the soule For many times they are a cause or at least a meanes to draw afflictions from God upon a man for God is a jealous God that is a God hating spirituall Idolatrie Now when the heart of a man or woman is immoderately set upon when I say his heart runs a whoring from God after earthly things whether it bee after riches honour or pleasure the Lord will bee sure to meet with him and whip him home for it As we see in David and Ely if David will set his heart upon Absalom the Lord will bee sure to meet with his Absalom above all the rest if Ely will not correct his sonnes but let them dishonour the worship service of God God wil correct them himselfe And this ariseth from the nature of God for God hath a fatherly care over his children and therefore will not suffer them to soile themselves with the things of the
cause to make it inord inate as for example to desire to do businesse in a mans calling is good but if this desire prevaile with him at such time as hee should bestow in prayer and holy duties as when he should come to heare the Word then they are inordinate for season must be kept to therefore when an affection comes if not in season answer it as Christ did The houre is not yet come this is the way to iudge of them by the rule The second way of triall is to know them by their effects and they are foure as the rules are 4. The first effect is if any affection hinder reason so as to trouble the action then it is inordinate for affections ought to be servants to reason if they disturb then they are not right as for example feare is set in the soule to give the watch-word to prevent evills if it shall appale a man so as to let his weapons fall thus it troubles reason Joy was put in the soule to oyle the wheeles and to quicken it more If it do more astonish then quicken if immoderate joy cast a man into ectasy when it should put him on action or if it breake out into immodest reuellings and not into praises thy joy is not good griefe is stirred up to ease the soule of paine now if it hinder a man from enduring that he should endure it becomes inordinate The Israelites in Egypt could not hearken to Moses because of the anguish of their hearts and worldly sorrow causeth death that is it causeth distempers and when it thus drieth up the bones it eateth up the vigor of the soule and makes a man out of frame then it is amisse though Christs griefe exceeded anymans upon the Crosse yet he committed all to God without any distempers The second effect is when they indispose vs to any holy duty as we judge of in distempers of the body if there be no appetite to meat or drinke so affections are inordinate when they indispose vs to pray to doe good or to speake good 1 Pet. 3. 7. the Apostle exhorteth husbands to dwell with their wives as men of knowledge that is in such a manner as you may moderate affections with knowledge that your prayers saith the Apostle be not hindred that is if there be any disorder in your affections one towards another it will hinder your prayers By your affection you may judge and as you may judge of your affection by your duties so of your duties you may judge by this rule how you are disposed to holy duties if there be any interruption or indisposition it is a signe there is some distemper in the affections all things are not straight in the inward man The third effect to discouer the immoderatenesse of affections is when they produce euill actions which ordinarily they doe when they exceede the measure and the manner Anger is an affection set in the soule to stirre up man to remoue impediments and thus you may be angry for sinne and other things too now if it be kept in its owne limits anger is a desire to remove impediments and not a desire to revenge that is the inordinatenesse of it to be angry for sinne because it dishonoureth God is good To be angry for other things redounding on our selves is not evill so our anger extend but so farre as to remoue the impediments not to revenge them as for example if a man takes away ones reputation and brings disgrace upon him now to desire to hurt such a man the affection is amisse because the carriage of other men towards vs must not be our rule towards others but we are to make this use of it to be diligent in keeping off the blow off our selves but not to hurt another man this is inordinate Be angry but sinne not you may be angry so as it bring forth no evill actions or evill effects so a man may be angry with the insensible creatures desiring to remove the impediment and put out of the way that which hinders the actions The last effect is when affections draw vs from God then they are inordinate because they should draw vs neere to him But when they make vs to forget God there is their inordinatenesse for example we are commanded Deut. 12. 18. To reioyce in the good things of God but when wee shall rejoyce in an Epicurean manner and forget God it is amisse for wee should so rejoyce that wee should raise up our soules to love and praise and give thanks to him so also for feare and griefe if wee feare any thing more then God and grieve for any thing more then for sinne for crosses and losses more then for displeasing God these make us forget God and so become inordinate Now followes what it is to mortifie them which wee have formerly spoken of at large in a word it is nothing else but a turning of carnall affections into spirituall and naturall affections to a higher and more noble end that is to eate and to drinke not onely for natures benefit but for God to doe him honour that is the right end for to mortifie is to rectifie and to bring things that are out of compasse to rule to see where they are inordinate and so to turne carnall and naturall affections all into spitituall In the next place wee will see some reasons why they are to be mortified for reasons doe wonderfully perswade and necessity of mortifying once apprehended makes men goe about it Let us but consider of what moment it is to have them mortified what ill if we doe not what good if we doe The first reason is because affections are actions of the greatest efficacie and command in the soule they are exceeding powerfull they are the wheeles or sailes which carrie the soule this way or that way in that regard because they are so effectuall and prevalent therefore it concernes us the more to take care that we rectifie them Time was when affections did obey the will and the will the Spirit of God in the time of Innocency but now that subordination is taken away and that union dissolved and now the affections move the heart as the winde the Sea whether it will or no therefore it stands you upon to keepe them under A metled horse is a delight to the rider if hee be kept under the bridle so the affections if they be good the stronger the better but the Divell hath no better factors thē the affections are if they be ill they are the best opportunities for him to doe mischiefe by The second reason why they are to be mortified is because they are those that make us eyther good or evill men It is not the understanding of truth or falshood that makes us good or evil men that is but one opinion and judgement but as the affections are and as the inclination of the will is so is
build a mud wall any rubbish and trash will serve the turne to make it up So when our affections are on high matters such as God and Christ they looke upon things that are noble and not upon the rubbish and trash of the world wee will choose the principallest stones for our spirituall building but if otherwise we strive to finde contentment in the creatures we care not how wee come by them that is any rubbish will serve the turne to get riches withall and honour and preferment in the world but if ever you will set your affections straight pitch them upon God The fourth cause of inordinate affections is that confusion that riseth in the heart at the first rising of them and they are the vapours and mists that blinde the reason and make a man unable to resist them because the putting out of the eye of reason must needs trouble a man exceedingly even as a moate in a mans eye troubles him that he cannot see as he should doe And therefore these mists that are cast upon the eye of reason doe make a man unable to resist them In such a case the way to helpe them is this to make up the bankes when the river is at the lowest ebbe that is to make up the bankes of our affections before the tide of inordinate affections do come in we are not at first able to rule these inordinate affections but yet if the banks be made up afore-hand we may mortifie them A man is to consider before how he is able to be affected and for this let him looke into the former waies and see how he hath beene affected and how he is apt to be affected againe and when he is in such circumstances let him take a good resolution never to returne to such inordinate affections as he did afore When a man is sicke of an Ague to give him physicke when hee is in a sore fit is not the fittest way it is not then in season but it were best to be done in his good daies before his fit so we are to make up the banke of our affections before the tide of inordinate affections doe come to have a strong resolution we will not be led by such an affection as before And if this prevaile not then we are to suspend the execution of our passions that is to doe nothing for a time If a man finde any passion in himselfe let him abstaine for that time if it be possible from the doing of that which it moves him unto because that he is then most subject to doe amisse You see a barrell of Beere if it be stirred at the bottome draw it presently and it will runne muddy but if you let it rest a while and then draw it it will runne cleare so a man in his passion his reason is muddy and his actions will not come off cleare therefore it is good to suspend the execution howsoever For the suspending of the action in time of passion is very profitable though a man thinke for the present whilest the passion is upon him that he doth not erre yet because then we are most subject to erre suspend for a while Passion is a hindrance to the faculty as jogging is to the arme when it is a shooting or unto the hand when it is a writing therefore when a man doth find that passion is on him let him do nothing A drunken mans wisest courseis to go home and do nothing that night unlesse the good work of repentance our passion is a kind of drunkennes the one is almost as subject to mis-take an error as the other The fifth cause of inordinate affections is the corruption of Nature which is in every man since the fall of Adam Will you know the reason why Beares and Wolves and Lyons carry themselves so cruelly It is because their nature is to doe so Wil you know why a sinful man is subject to affect things inordinately the reason is because he hath a bad nature it is naturall to him to doe it and as ready to him as sparkles of fire to fly upwards We see some men are apt to be taken with such a disease that is bred and borne with them they cannot escape it Now the remedy to remove the evilnesse of nature is to get new natures that is to get another nature a holy regenerate disposition untill then men shall neuer be able to doe it many labour to mortifie their affections but yet cannot because they are busie about the particulars and never regard the generall they can never make the branch good except they make the tree good therefore the way to mortifie is to get a new nature Consider whether your nature be renued whether that be cast into a new mould if it be this is the way to mortifie inordinate affection this is the way for the generall So also it should be our care for any particular affection that wee finde our selves most prone to by nature labour to thwart nature in that particular Are you given to wrath by nature endeavour to be humbler and meeker then other men Is your nature more inclined to desire of gain Labour to be established with a more free spirit and this will be a meanes to mortifie you otherwise you shall never waine your hearts from earthly things till you have a taste of such spirituall things that is you shall never win your hearts from joyes except you have joy and delight in Christ you shall never overcome the griefe of losses and crosses except you turne your affections to see the loathsomnesse of sinne Contraries in nature do expell one another cold is expelled with heate darknesse with light so you must expell carnall affections with spirituall The 6 ht cause of inordinate affections is carelesnesse and remisnesse that is want of spirituall watchfulnes over the heart when men rather give occasion unto the affections to be inordinate than prevent the occasions of it For the cure of this take heed not of sinne onely but of the occasions of sinne for a man to hate sinne and not to hate the occasions of it is to deceive himselfe that is all one as for a man to walke upon Ice that is afraid of falling Iron will move if the loadstone be neer so the affections will stirre up if there be any alluring sinfull object And therefore if sinne knock at the doore of your hearts you must not let it in presently but aske his errand plead the cause with it and consider the hindrances and inconveniences that come by it For a man to say I will give over my lusts and yet will keepe such company as hee did before and use his old haunts he doth but deceive himselfe Prov. 22 19. Make no freindship with an angry man and with a furious man thou shalt not goe Prov. 23. 30 Benot amongst wine-bibbers that is if thou hast used this company and
bodie the more and the greater they are the more comfort they administer But yee may say that the creature can administer its owne comfort and of it selfe To this I answere that there is an aptnesse and fitnesse in the Creature to comfort us but yet it can yeeld no comfort without God wherefore keepe your affections in square have so much joy and delight in the Creature as the Creature requires and no more If your affections hold a right proportion with their objects they are aright therefore thus farre you may joy in the Creature and no further First you may joy in it with a remisse joy ye may also sorow with a remisse sorow ye may joy in it as if ye joyed not sorrow in it as if ye sorrowed not Secondly you may joy in them with a loose joy affection as they sit loose to you so you may sit loose to them 1. Cor. 7. 29. 30. 31. Brethren the time is short it remaineth therefore that those which have wiues bee as if they had none that those that weepe be as if they wept not that those that rejoyce as if they rejoyced not and those that buy as though they possessed not and those that use this World as not abusing it that is Let your affections be loose to these things Take any of these outward things you may cast your affection on them in a a loose manner goe no further then this the fashion of the World passeth away yee may be taken away from it and it from you therefore affect it no otherwise then a transitorie thing and with a loose and transeunt affection willing to depart from it whensoever it shall please God to take it from you Thirdly you may love them with a dependant affection they are things of a dependant nature they have no bottome of their owne to stand upon they onely depend on God and so you may love them as depending on him eying the fountaine and not the Cesterne from whence they flow take not light from the Aire but looke to the Sunne from whence it comes The third deceit is a false reasoning Wee findit otherwise by experience We see that a diligent hand maketh rich and bringeth comfort wee see that labour bringeth learning and for the labour which wee take to get it in recompence of it it makes us happie To this I answere that this clay me doth not alwaies hold God breakes it many times Riches come not alwayes by labour nor comfort by riches the labour profiteth nothing Psal. 12. 71. Except the Lord build the house they labour in vaine that build it Except the Lord keepe the Citie the watchman watcheth but in vaine It is in vaine to rise up early to goe to bedde late and to eate the bread of carefulnesse yee shall not reape the fruite ye expect unlesse God bee with your labour If Christ be absent the Disciples may labour all night and catch nothing but if he be present with them then their labour prospereth then they inclose a multitude of fishes So when wee labour and take paines and thinke to be strong in our owne strength without Gods helpe we go to worke with a wrong key which will not open but if Gods hand be in the businesse we doe it with great facility and ease which God hath appointed we should doe You may see this in Ioseph God purposed to make him a great man see with what facility he was made the governour of Aegypt next to Pharaoh without his owne seeking and beyond his expectation So it was with Mordecai so with Dauid God appointed to make them great and therefore they became great notwithstanding all oppositions On the contrary let man goe on in his owne strength and hee shall labour without any profit at all hence it is that many times wee see a concurrencie of all causes so that wee would thinke that the effect must needes follow and yet it followes not and if it doe follow yet we have no comfort in it First because God makes an insutablenesse and disproportion betwixt the man and the blessing as betweene Iudas and his Apostleship a man may have tables well furnished riches in aboundance a wife fit for him and yet have no comfort in them because God puts a secret disproportion betwixt him and them Secondly though there bee a concurrence of things yet God may hinder the effect sometimes for good and sometimes for evill as Elishas servant was readie in the nicke when the Shunamite came to begge her possessions and lands of the King 2. Kings 8. 5. 6. He was then telling the King how Elisha had restored her sonne to life So Abraham when he was to offer up his sonne Isaack in the instant God sent the ramme to be tyed in the bush So Saul when hee had purposed to kill Dauid God called him away to fight with the Philistins and as God hinders the effect for good so he doth for evill Thirdly God doth it sometimes by denying successe unto the causes The battaile is not alwayes to the strong When there are causes and the ' ffect followes not it is because God doth dispose of things at his pleasure and can turne them a contrary way health and comfort joy and delight follow not outward blessings except God put it into them The fourth deceit is this These things are certaine and present but other things are doubâ—full and uncertaine wee know not whether wee shall have them or no. To this I answere it is not so future spirituall and eternall things are not incertaine but thâ—se things which we enjoy here are those things wee here enjoy and wee also our selves are subject to changes and alterations Wee are as men on the Sea having stormes aswell as calmes Wealth and all outward blessings are but transitorie things but faith and spirituall things are certaine and endure for ever Wee have an Almighty and unchangeable God and immortall incorruptible inheritance which fadeth not away reserved for us in the highest Heavens In temporall things who knoweth what shall bee to morrow In them thou canst not boast of to morrow but as for spirituall things they are certaine they have no ambiguity in them But the maine answere that I give is that here we must use our faith Consider the grounds on which faith relies and then the conclusions and consequences that arise from them take heede to them and be not deceived If yee beleeve God to bee the rewarder of all those that trust in him as you say hee is why rest you not on him why are yee not contented with him for your portions why thinke you not him sufficient If the Creature be God then follow it but if God be God then follow him and bee satisfied with him Labour therefore for faith unfaigned and walke according to it If then it bee vaine and sinnefull to seeke helpe and comfort from any